


No Matter the Cost

by FremenOfHonor



Category: Babylon 5, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Babylon 5 - Freeform, Crossover, F/M, More Than Love: RFFA Valentine's Exchange 2018, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:33:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13678080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FremenOfHonor/pseuds/FremenOfHonor
Summary: The war against Earth was over. Rey wouldn't count him. She refused to even look at him despite sitting across from him at the table. It was long, would seat at least fifty people but there were only six. Captain Organa, herself, President Susanna Luchenko and her Vice President, Bester from the PsiCorps and his bloodhound.Kylo Ren.





	No Matter the Cost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fervidflowering](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fervidflowering/gifts).



The war against Earth was over.

Rey could not believe it. After two horribly long years of being hounded by propaganda from Earth Gov, threats of being dragged back to the ghastly monolith that was PsiCorps – the Corps is _not_ Father, the Corps is _not_ Mother, she has to think, even now – and the long twilight struggle that was the Shadow War, Rey was finally home.

The war was over.

But there was no home for her to go back to. No family, unless one counted the PsiCorps, which she most certainly didn't. And she wouldn't count him. She refused to even look at him despite sitting across from him at the table. It was long, would seat at least fifty people but there were only six. Captain Organa, herself, President Susanna Luchenko and her Vice President, Bester from the PsiCorps and his bloodhound.

Kylo Ren.

No, she was definitely not looking in his direction, though she could feel him, his mind, his presence, hovering at the edge of her peripheral. Rey could tell he was surprised to see her. Could feel each of his emotions roiling off of him. It reminded her of a child, but then, he had always been that way.

Captain Organa wasn't exactly happy at the presence of them either. Yet, always the professional, the woman was completely focused upon the new President of the Earth Alliance. Listening to their terms.

After all, they had blown through their own fleets to get to Earth.

Rey inhaled sharply. She could feel him, probing at her mental walls. He would never breach them, she knew, but they quivered slightly under the weight all the same.

When she decides to let him speak with her through a slight hole in her imagined wall, the sounds of the President and Captain talking fade into nothing. The reopening of a bond that had been closed for two years.

“ _What do you want, Ben?_

“ _To talk. Is that so bad?”_ Rey squeezed her hands into fists, hiding them beneath the table. She could feel his eyes boring into her and it took every bit of her self-control to keep her eyes on her Captain. “ _You... You look amazing.”_

“ _Always the charmer.”_

“ _I'm serious.”_ Kylo Ren leaned forward in his seat slightly. She could tell by the sound of squeaking leather and rustling heavy cloth. He had always been theatrical, even when they had been forced to work together while on Babylon 5. His clothes, while not exactly PsiCorps mandated, were an allowance for the bloodhound unit's best mind shredder. It always struck her as a silly thing to request.

He was a very strong Telepath. Perhaps even the strongest, but she would always be stronger. She closed that line of thought off as soon as it started, lest the associated emotions would allow him a free ride into her mind. She would never let him in again.

“ _And I'm serious too, Ben. You went a way I could not follow, what do you expect from me? I saw the ISN feeds. They celebrated what you did but you cannot tell me that anything of what you did was moral—”_

“ _Like firing on your own ships?”_

“ _You_ know _that's infinitely more complicated than you're making it out to be.”_

She swallowed a little noisily, attracting some attention from Captain Organa. Offering the woman a smile and wave of her hand she busied herself with leaning forward out of her chair to get herself a glass of water. As she poured, Rey glanced up towards the other side of the table. Her eyes fell upon his mask and she can tell he's staring right at her.

For a time that mask had been in her dreams. Haunting her. The remnants of their bond, tattered, would flap madly in the winds of their lives on opposite sides of the war and in her dreams he would come to her, hand outstretched amidst a furious snowstorm.

She had been terrified of him offering his hand to her after the last time. When he found out that she was also a very strong Telepath. When he found out that she was a Telekinetic, like him.

When he found out she had hidden her abilities to enter the Earth Alliance Military.

He had tried to take her back to PsiCorps. When he had -- no, she couldn’t think about that.

She had barely paid any attention to the meeting yet once she'd tuned back in she realized that the President and Captain were still discussing the same point. Nothing had changed. Her attention turned back to Ben. “ _Why did you do it, Ben?”_

His presence shifted around hers and Rey felt his warmth surround her. Suddenly, as if they had gotten up out of their chairs and moved elsewhere, she could see his arms around her. For a moment fear and anger spiked within her before she clamped down upon it. His arms were resting around her tenderly. The gloves that he had always worn, PsiCorps standard issue, were removed, resting on the table infront of them. Raising her eyes to look at the others she saw that they were hidden – as if set behind a curtain. She could still hear their voices, still see them moving, but it was like watching a shadow play.

It felt like old times, and it was nice. Despite herself and her righteous anger, Rey sighed softly and leaned back into Kylo Ren's arms, startled to feel hair tickling at her face. When she opened her eyes to stare up into his face she saw that his helmet had also been removed. His face was as it had always been, though the horrific scar she had given him during their last (and first) duel had long since been healed. Her brow knitted together in confusion at that, his fingers answering the siren call to begin gently stroking her frown.

Why hadn't he had cosmetic surgery done to repair the damage? He'd let it heal naturally.

Before she could consider that further, Ben leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“... I think that concludes this meeting. Captain Organa?”

Snapped back to reality, the shadows that the others had become melded back into reality and Rey sat up slightly, watching as Captain Organa rose. She followed the other womans lead, reaching forward to shake the President's and the Vice President's when it was her turn to do so. Turning with the Captain, who gave her a knowing look, they both exited the room together, both pensive but for completely different reasons.

“Very interesting, wasn't it, Rey?”

That was an understatement. Folding her hands behind her in a relaxed stance as they walked, Rey tilted her head slightly. “Very interesting.” She paused for a moment before asking, softer, “You didn't want me to scan her, did you?”

“No. No. Where would the fun be in political intrigue if you got all of your answers from a telepath?” The woman chuckled softly, though it was a rueful sound. Even now, while in the heart of Earth Gov, where half of the officials wanted to hand her a medal and the others wanted her taken out on a firing line and shot, Captain Organa was still the picture of elegance and dignity.

Well. Ex-Captain. That was what the whole meeting had been about, of course.

“I suppose you have something up your sleeve, Captain?”

“Always, Commander.” The other womans brown eyes twinkled with mirth. “Always. Consider this part of your diplomatic training. Always go into a meeting with one or two parachutes. You never know when someone is going to try and sweep the floor out from under you.”

As they continued walking they fell into a companionable silence, though Rey felt considerably more awkward. There was just so much going on. Often, when Rey had pulled forty-eight hour shifts while on Bab 5, she had felt overwhelmed. Not just by the sheer workload of ships coming into the station, but the threat of the Shadow War, the Earth propaganda, Earth having been involved in the Shadow War, it had been so overwhelming. But now, walking alongside Leia Organa back to the rooms they had been allocated, she felt overwhelmed again.

It didn't help that she was walking along side Ben's mother.

The same woman she hadn't told that Ben was alive and was Kylo Ren.

“All will be revealed at the Press Conference tomorrow.” Organa said, letting out a long sigh. As they approached the hall they would turn into to reach their rather opulent rooms, Leia reached for Rey's shoulder and guided her towards her own room. Ushering the Commander inside, Leia closed the door and the two busied themselves in rooting out any and all bugs that may have been placed.

With the last dealt with, Leia turned to Rey. They stared at each other for a long moment before Leia opened her arms and Rey stepped into them, wrapping her own around her commanding officer.

It wasn't often that they hugged. Leia had always been a tactile woman but with the wars there simply hadn't been enough time for time off, for personal meetings. And both of them were such consummate professionals they would be on duty twenty-four seven.

It was wonderful to be wrapped in her arms again and the feeling of being overwhelmed faded, an ever present buzz but hidden within the depths of her head. Even after everything that had happened, it was still a delight to feel the woman that she regarded as a close friend, perhaps even a mother figure in her arms.

Rey knew Ben would not approve. She had always had a better relationship with his mother than he had.

“I'm sure I don't even have to ask you if you have my back, do I, Rey?”

“You don't have to, no.” Rey immediately said, pulling herself out of her thoughts. “I’ll be with you. Always.”

 

* * *

 

Waking up in the middle of the night was common for Rey. What had been more common of late was not getting to sleep at all and surviving on fumes. But now being on a planet for the first time in almost a decade and with the opportunity to rest she was restless.

Having spent the better part of three hours tossing and turning in her bed, she laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling, listening to the chirp of the cricket outside her window. Maybe that was what was driving her mad.

As if a soundless storm had swept over her, the sound of the cricket quietened, becoming muffled until they were no longer audible, nose filling with the smell of petrichor. She stiffened, sensing his presence before he appeared in the bed beside her, his warm hand slipping into hers.

“ _There's nothing that you can say to me, Ben.”_

“ _I know.”_

“ _Why are you even here?”_ Rey sat up and stared down at him, taking in his dishevelled appearance. She was angry and he could feel it like the fury of a storm, battering at his mind. For a moment an answering anger rises in him before he shut it down, refusing to rise to the bait.

“ _I didn't choose this. It seems because of our proximity the bond has reopened.”_ He paused, watching her. His eyes roamed up and down her body, causing her to pull the sheets higher over her standard issue military pajamas. She was scowling at him, he realized, and he looked down at himself. Of course, he was shirtless, as he preferred to sleep. “ _Rey, what do you want me to say? I thought I was doing the right thing.”_

“ _I don't want you to say anything. You said it all then, when you chose the PsiCorps over the truth.” Over me._

“ _The truth? Are you really the person to lecture me about the truth?”_ Hissing, Rey rose from her bed and stalked away from it and him.

“ _I am not interested in having this discussion with you, Ben!”_

“ _Then listen. You don't have to talk, just listen.”_

“ _That is all I ever did with you, Ben.”_ She responded acidly, whirling upon him. She was the picture of righteous fury and disturbed sleep while Ben, lounging in her bed was his typical unkempt and charming self. “ _You murdered your father. You broke your mothers heart. You broke_ my _heart. And now you come here after two years, after everything you have done and you want me to_ listen _to you?”_

Those dark eyes of his widen. Just slightly. “ _I broke your heart?”_ Rey stared at him, her own eyes widening as if she hadn't realized what she said. In truth she hadn't, it had just burst out of her chest as if she could no longer hold it in.

The pain that she had felt the moment he had held his hand out to her and asked her to join him, to return to PsiCorps, the feeling of betrayal she had never realized that she had carried all this time. But now she could acutely feel it, burning in her chest and making tears spring to her eyes.

Seeing this, Ben rose from the bed and approached, moving like a spectre. But when he stood before her all she could feel was warmth radiating from him, not the chill of nightmares she wished she could forget. Reaching forward with a hand he rested it gently upon her cheek and she let out a sob. Pulling her into his arms he held her tight to his chest, letting his warmth surround her again and for just a moment, Rey could pretend that all was right in the galaxy. Ben was softly shushing her, his hand resting upon the back of her head and gently stroking back and forth.

“ _I’m sorry, Rey.”_

She froze, her sniffling dying in her throat. Goosebumps ran over her skin as if she were too cold. The base of her neck grew hot and her stomach tightened until she had to gasp in air.

“ _I’m not saying it because “our side” lost the war. You know what the PsiCorps is like, you know that Director Snoke would send Bester and his Bloodhounds and hunt me down.”_

“ _We could have protected you, Ben.”_ She raised her head to stare up at him, her voice pleading. His eyes were mirroring her own, swimming, reflective. She could see herself in them and she reached up to her face to swipe whatever tears had escaped away.

“ _You probably could have. I saw the recordings, you were a hellion.”_ At that she laughed and she began rubbing her face, willing herself to stop her tears. His hand was constant on the back of her head, gently stroking through her hair. Even his smell was comforting her. When they had parted two years prior she had been so furious with him she had all of the possessions he had left behind on the station sent to storage and the bedsheets for their final night together incinerated. If she didn’t know better, she would swear that he was there.

“ _Bester came to the station so many times. Why did you never come?”_

“ _Scared.”_ The ease at which he said that immediately set her on edge and she regards him with narrowed eyes. He quickly continued on, “ _Scared of what you, of what mother would say. And with Snoke breathing down my neck there was very little that I could do. I’ve never had the same defensive walls as you, if I came back here and we spoke, shared anything, he’d know.”_

“ _You could’ve stayed, you idiot!”_

“ _Maybe. But I’m here now. And things are different.”_

“ _Different how?”_ She looked over him, her suspicions rising. His boyish eyes crinkle in humor and he laughed at her. Which she didn’t appreciate in the slightest, pulling away from him. He was the projection here, not her and so she wandered towards the kitchenette to get herself a drink, immediately retrieving for herself a glass of orange juice.

“ _I’m not going to run away this time. I suspect you might not let me.”_

“ _I’m not your mother, Ben.”_

“ _No.”_ He hissed, incensed by the mention of the woman sleeping in the room across from her. “ _You are not. But we had something, damn it.”_

“ _Correct!_ Had _. We’re no longer together, Ben. News flash, you’re a murderer and a psychopath.”_

“ _Because of what they did!”_

Rey rounded on him, eyes filled with fury. “ _Are you always going to blame the PsiCorps because they turned you into a monster?! Finn was in the same program, are you calling him a monster, too?”_

“ _No, that’s not what I mea--!”_

“ _Then what_ exactly _did you mean, Ben? I was given orders I didn’t like either. And when President Hux declared Martial Law I stayed aboard Babylon 5 and I broke orders and I fired on our own ships because it was the right thing to do, damn it!”_ With each venomous word she stepped closer looking every bit the angel of fury that he knew her to be until they were toe to toe, her hands coming to beat on his chest. “ _Do you think I am even remotely happy I fired upon our own ships? Those soldiers were doing what they were ordered to do!”_

“ _And you don’t think I was?”_

She laughed bitterly. “ _I saw you. I saw you on the HoloVids - you enjoyed every bit of it. And you enjoyed murdering your father!”_

Rey tried to hit him again in the chest, hoping maybe she would shake the mental projection that had entered the room when suddenly her hands weren’t hitting flesh, they hit a clothed body. The mental projection dissolved into nothingness and sound returned as her hands, balled into fists, smacked the real Ben Solo’s chest.

She’s left speechless, staring at him with wide eyes, her face torn between shock and anger. Shock that he was there in front of her, angry that he had gotten in. All while that constant undercurrent of devotion thrummed through her that had plagued her for the past two years. With him physically there her hits became ineffectual until she just stood there with her hands upon his chest.

“Why did you kill him, Ben? Why did you ask me to go where you knew I couldn’t?”

“Look.” Ben reached down, took her hands in his and brought them up to his lips. Her hands were dwarfed by his, held with the gentle reverence for her only he possessed. It brought her back for a moment to the night before everything had gone so wrong two years ago and the tears returned, unbidden. “I regret it. I used to think I never loved my parents because they were never there. I thought that they were glad when I was sent to the PsiCorps. I thought they never loved me. But I was there. When Han died, I was with him in his mind and I knew that I had been wrong. He just couldn’t say the words. And how could I blame him for that, when it’s my own failing?

“And mother was always Military first. I never appreciated it as a child and not even until the moment I saw how much she hated me. But I do. I was too young to understand the Minbari War. Too young to enlist. I could’ve been like many other children and lost both of my parents, but I didn’t. My point is, Rey, I regret what I did. It can’t be changed. I’ve spent the last year wanting that. But I don’t want to regret not being near you anymore.”

“Ben…” Rey sighed, rubbing at her eyes. “It’s not that simple.” Despite herself she pulled him toward the nearby lounge, suddenly weary of standing. As they sat he held his arms open for her expectantly. He looked as good as he did two years ago and Rey was nothing if not a sucker for him. Despite all her reticence, the small voice in her head telling her this was a trap to get her sucked into the PsiCorps and under Director Snoke, she crawled into his arms which curled tightly around her.

That warmth spread again. It was so different than when he had been there in mental projection - where before there had been the comfort of a blanket there was now a raging inferno lighting a spark within her.

“Nothing is.” He murmured, voice taking on a dark quality. A shiver ran up Rey’s spine that he noticed and his arms curled around her even tighter.

“I don’t want you to be lying to me Ben. I don’t know if I could take it.”

“I won’t say I’m not, you probably wouldn’t believe it. I’ll prove it to you.”

Those warm hands, having started rubbing up and down her back moved until they cupped her face, spreading the warmth into her cheeks chilled by tears. “You’ve always been my…” He paused, a wry smile spreading his lips. “Rey of Light.”

Rey groaned, but the saccharine statement did bring a slight smile to her face despite the tears. “I didn’t take you as someone sentimental, Ben.”

“I’m not.” Rey’s eyes dipped to his lips. They looked as soft as they had before, back when times had been simpler and all that mattered was how well they fit together.

Without speaking their faces loomed closer to the other until they shared each breath. Rey’s breathing heightened while Ben’s deepened - as always, opposites. When their lips touched it was the spark that lit the fire, bringing the still smouldering ruins of their past back to life, each answering the others groan with their own.

Clothes were discarded without care for where they landed, their hands desperately stroking and touching skin that hadn’t been touched or felt for too long. The bond that they had shared was burst wide open and everything became mirrors, reflections of themselves.

When they come together, writhing against each other, the feeling of him within and the feeling of her surrounding him echo off of each other. Each sensation amplified by the other, bleeding through the bond so the other feels what the other is feeling, so profound it made them hurt.

And afterward, when they laid in each others arms and legs, panting and sweat cooling on their heated skin, they quietly promised each other they wouldn’t let their other half go again.

No matter the cost.

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled with this. I'm very new to fanfiction writing and this version of Rey and Kylo I didn't know how to write, but I knew I wanted to write them. Their voices weren't really speaking to me, but I feel it's because I've written it at the middle point of a story, not the beginning. I do apologize if this isn't up to standard and I am looking for constructive criticism if there is any to be had. Happy Valentines Day, everyone.


End file.
